When the Wind Blows
by gaskinjalen
Summary: I have watched Beach City for more than two years. I thought there was no way there could be anyone else like Steven to exist. I was wrong. Abigael Turqouise came to this city looking for peace and tranquility. But now her enemies have returned. I, Rekirts of the creed, have taken it upon myself to teach her how to fight as both a gem and a human. Easy, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: "It's great to be back"**

It was another sunny day at Beach City. I, Rekirts of the creed, was on the roof of the french fry restaurant as I watched the residents went about their day. I have been in Beach City for about two years now and I have seen some weird things. To be honest the weirdest thing about this town is the fact that so much happens here and no one seems to care. But I guess that's normal since all this crazy stuff has been going on for thousands of years. Or at least, that's what I have heard.

The warm sun was so nice and nothing seemed to be going on. With a yawn, I decided to go find a place to take a nap. But as I began to turn around, I saw someone I have never seen before. She was a fairly short girl-no bigger than a peridot-with her aqua hair that reached to her thighs. Every time the wind blew, her hair moved like a river; slow, smooth and graceful. There was someone beside her as well. An older man that I could only assume was her father. He was pointing in multiple directions giving her choices on where to go next. She pointed to Fish Stew Pizza and that's where they went. Still on the Fryman building, I wait until they left and were out of sight to finally drop to the ground and then enter the restaurant.

The store bell rang as I entered and I made my way to the counter where Kiki Pizza stood.

"Hey Rekirts. Welcome" She said. "What can I help you with today.".

"I'll take a pizza." I said. "And maybe the names of the people that just left."

"Hold on. Let me get your pizza first." She said as she wrote down my order.

I thanked her and made my way to a set next to the window. As I waited, I started to thinking about the girl and her father. _That girl. By the looks of her, she is no older than 13, which makes her three years younger than me. She's probably timid as well by the looks of it. And what was that feeling I had coming from her aura? I've seen that kind before. Could it be… No, it couldn't be. There has only be one instance of such a thing and that's-_

"Here you go." Snapping me out of my thoughts, I looked at Kiki as she put down the pizza. Fresh from the oven, it's heat allowing the smell to hit my face. The sweet cheese and salty fish was enough to make me forget everything and do nothing.

"Rekirts!"

I looked away from the pizza and faced Kiki. "Oh, sorry."

"It's ok. Like I said, those people you wanted to know about. Their names are Abigael and her father Tom. They just moved here from the Great North I think."

"I see. Thanks Kiki." My focus was back on the pizza.

"Rekirts, are you listening?" she sounded a little annoyed.

"Sorry." I said, refocusing on Kiki. "I guess I didn't realized how hungry I was. But yeah, I should probably say hi and welcome them in the town. Thank you."

"Any time." With that, she went back to work.

Filling my belly with one of my favorite Beach City dish, I felt so relaxed that I had completely forgotten about what i wanted to do. I looked out the window and I remember something else I wanted to do. You see, I had just came back from a mission with other creed members and decided to look around town to see if anything happened. Before settling down here, I was always on the move and even now I don't have anything that I would call a home. I made sure to leave the money I owed on the counter and left to go to the barn outside of town where one of my closest friend lives.

Her name was Peridot, the self proclaimed leader of the Crystal Gems. She was a short, green gem with her yellow hair in the shape of a triangle. Her gemstone was located on her forehead in the shape of an upside down triangle. She lived with another gem named Lapis Lazuli. She was almost twice the size of Peridot with her blue hair looking a lot more fancy. She had a dress with a ribbon wrapped around her waist and her gemstone was on her back in the shape of a teardrop. They acted like college roommates, but from what i have been told it wasn't always like that. Must of been pretty ruff.

By the time I got to the barn, the sun was already setting. It was a long walk which was why I left town relatively early. I could've gotten there faster, but I wanted to walk off the the pizza I just at. And wouldn't you know it, it was at that time I remembered something mind blowingly important. Or at least, remembering it made me feel bad. My eyes shot open and all the blood in my body drained straight down to my feet.

Of course i did what any reasonable person would do. "Aaaaahhhhh. I forgot about….. Oh never mind. It really isn't important."

"What isn't important?" I looked up to see Lapis using her water wings to float down in front of me.

"Hey Lapis. It's nothing to worry about, really. Anyway, I just got back and I was wondering if I could stay with you guys again."

Lapis retracted her wings back into her gem and crossed her arms. "Sure, but I thought you would have your own place by now."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I could. But then I would have bought a house only for it to collect dust." As I mentioned before, I'm always moving. Even now I would revive missions that would keep me away for at least a week. In other words, it was kind of pointless.

She kinda glared at me for a bit but shrugged her shoulders. There wasn't much Lapis cared about, but I guess another roommate wasn't anything she had on her wish list. I thanked her and proceeded in the direction of the barn.

Now the barn itself was interesting for lack of a better. It used to belong to a guy named Greg Universe and, after a quarrel between Peridot and a group called the Crystal Gems, things got complicated that ended up with the barn receiving a hole in its side. The grain tower was moved to seal the hole that was made during said quarrel and then filled with water and fish(don't ask me why). Above the door was a truck that was somehow perfectly positioned so that it wouldn't fall with a tv and an umbrella on the trunk. Everything about the design of this place seemed unbelievably and unnecessarily over the top and complicated. Sometimes I just had to turn off my brain just to appreciate it.

"Hey Rekirts." Coming out of the barn was Peridot. "Good to see you again."

"Hey Peridot. I see you've been practicing your Earth speech."

"Wow, thanks. Hey you should come and see my latest mep morp that reminds me of the day I defeated Jasper." Mep morps was just another name for art.

"No thanks. I just need to sleep."

"Oh right. You humans need 'rest'."

"Thanks for letting me stay here. It means a lot."

"It's fine. Just make yourself at home."

I went into the the tent to the left of the barn. The tent was a common brown camping tent with a white and green flag. There was nothing much in the tent. Most of the stuff in there were things I brought back from my journeys. It made me smile as I thought of the how nice everyone had been to me in these passed two years. Looking back, I was so surprised to find how kind the people and gems here are. When I got here, I was greeted with hellos and open arm kindness. Maybe that is why I like it here so much.

Pulling up the sleeping bag and pillow I keep stored in the corner of the tent, I proceeded to get ready to sleep. While I didn't do much today, it was nice to finally say that I could sleep with both of my eyes closed. Getting into the sleeping bag and lying on my pillow i thought, _It's great to be back._ And after a few minutes, I drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: Getting to Know You**

I woke up to another bright, bright, morning. The feeling of the light that passed through the tent on my eyelids was enough to wake me from my deep sleep. I could of stayed and try to sleep some more, but my body wouldn't allow it. Using whatever will power I had, I was able to sit up, at least. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I took in my surroundings with confusion. For a second or two, I didn't know where I was. Then it hit me. _Oh yeah. I'm back at the barn._ I couldn't help but laugh at how I forgot something like that so easily. But to be fair, most of my nights don't consist of a peaceful setting like what I have right here.

I got out of the sleeping bag and stored it in the corner of the tent and proceeded to get ready for the day. Lapis allowed me to take some water from her pool to use for my "morning rituals", as Peridot puts it. Since this was going to be a relatively peaceful day, I decided that I would dress casually. I put on a orange shirt with a phoenix on the front, some gray cargo shorts, and a pair of running shoes.

Peridot was leaving the barn just as I was leaving the tent. "Hey Rekirts, are you going into town?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Mind if I join you? I can help by using the warp pad."

"Thanks." And with that-and some constant nagging from Peridot as she made sure Lapis didn't need anything-, we were off.

"So what are you planning to do here?" I asked Peridot.

"Just find Amethyst and see if we can 'hang out'. I think that's how she puts it. What about you?"

"Well since it has been a while since I've been here, I'm just going to look around. See what's new and all."

"Do you need help getting back to the barn?"

"No I'll be fine."

"Ok. If you say so." And with that, she left. Since I didn't have anything to eat that morning, I decided to go to the Big Donut. On my way there, I hummed a tune that Peridot taught me. She said that she didn't make it herself, but it was one of the first songs she sung on earth. It was a good song, though, I was never really found of her singing voice. I was so into my own thoughts that I didn't noticed the person in front of me. I guess it would have helped if I had actually had my eyes open while humming the tune.

*bump*

My eyes shot open and I allowed my instincts kick in. But then I realized that the person in front of me was just a girl. The same girl that I saw yesterday. She was taller than I expected; just a bit shorter than me, but definitely taller than Peridot. "Uh, e-excuse me."

I blinked at the sound of her voice. I looked to where my hands were and realized that my right hand was hovering over one of the pockets on my shorts. I relaxed my body and stood up straight feeling embarrassed by my actions. "Sorry." I said.

"No i-it's fine. I should have watched where I was going."

Uncomfortable silence. "So," I said to break the silence, "you new here?" Maybe I should have left it silent.

"Y-yes. My name is Abigael. And you are?"

"Rekirts." I replied feeling less nervous.

"Rekirts? I never heard a name like that before."

"Yeah well." I rubbed the back of my neck and put on a genuine smile.

"Why does your name make you sad?" she ask.

Shock hit me like a truck. My heart rate increased, warmth drained out of me, my body demanded more air and all I could think of was _How did she know!_ "Wh-what-"

"Oh, I'm soo sorry!" she replied immediately. "Sometime I just say stuff like that without thinking. I'm so sorry"

"No no, it's fine." I said as I tried-and failed-to regain my composure. "It's nothing to be sorry for. You just caught me off guard is all." She still looked pretty disappointed in herself. I started to think of ways to cheer her up. Then it came to me. "Hey how about you come with me to the Big Donut."

"What?" she asked as she looked at me.

"I mean, I'm headed up there any way. And I always feel better after eating something." It was at that moment my stomach decided to make itself known. She giggled at the sound and agreed to go.

On the way, she explained to me that she had only been at Beach City for 3 days with her father. They apparently came from the Great North. She didn't say why they moved, but that part was unimportant to me at the time. In exchange, I told her that I have been living in the surrounding areas of Beach City for 2 years. I didn't specifically say where I lived, just that I was living with some friends. When we got to the Big Donut, I only bought a donut for myself since she wasn't hungry. For the rest of the time, we talked about our experience in town. She liked everybody(except Lars) and how nice and welcoming they were to her and her father.

"It just makes me feel right at home." She said.

"I'm glad to hear that." I replied.

She looks down at her watch. Realizing it was getting late-or at least she had to be somewhere at that time-, she told me that she had a good time and ask if we could talk again. I said, "Sure. So long as I'm not doing anything." And with that, we said our goodbyes and she left.

Her back was turned to me. She wasn't looking back. I stopped smiling. I look around to make sure no one would see me. And then I went into an ally.

On my way, I reach into one of my left pockets and pull out my climbing braces. With them on, I begin to scale the nearest wall and move in the direction that Abigael took. I need distance, I need height. Once I got both, I crouched on one knee and keeped my eyes on her. I then activate Eagle Vision. (Note for the fourth wall: the creeds in this universe are not the same as The assassin's creed)

Eagle Vision: The ability to distinguish the difference between people and objects relative to the user. The colors that the user will see varies, but the effects are still the same. In the case of a gem, the user will only see a white light in the shape of the target.

For me, humans look red while animal look green. Everything else-other than a gem-is gray. When I looked at Abigael, her body shined red just like just like every other human. But unlike a human, there was a white light surrounding her. "So it's just like I thought." I said in a hushed voice. I remembered what happened yesterday. It was the first time I saw Abigael. She gave off an aura that gave me a feeling that I had only felt once before. But at that time, I didn't think about it. It couldn't be reasonably possible for something like that to happen again. But now that I saw it, there was no denying it. This girl was half gem just like Steven Universe, the son of the great leader of the rebellion over 5,000 year ago; Rose Quartz.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: I Just Don't Get It, But It's Still Beautiful**

The earth was a beautiful planet. Even though it was a great reminder of the lose homeworld had with the rebels, even if many good gem were lost here, not many could argue that aside from all of that it was still pretty. But it wasn't just the look of the planet. It was the overall worth of it. For a quartz soldier to go against her own diamond and risk her life, her allies life, and her own people's lives; such a planet must be worth something in the end.

And yet, after 5,000 years, I still don't know what it is. Was it the life? A lot of planets have life on it. Or maybe the humans? But they were so primitive. Sure, they help fight in the war but what else? I just don't get it.

Maybe I'm not suppose to get it. Maybe that's why I didn't join her-join Rose-in the rebellion. The way I saw it, I would be going against my diamond and my kind for just one planet when there were others that were gem controlled. In the end, I'm glad the earth stayed the way it did. I just wished it didn't come with such a heavy cost.

"Obsidian!"

I turned to the sound of my name and found Aventurine. She was big like most quartz soldiers. Well, she was tall and had a muscular form, but not as buff as the legendary Jasper. Her hair was long and curly down to her thighs. Her gemstone-which was located on the back of her right arm-was in the shape of a circle and it was smooth. The rest of her form verified in the color of green. "How long have you been there?" I asked the quartz.

"I just got here." she replied. "Tiger wants to know how long you plan on sitting there."

Tiger Eyes-or Tiger for short-was a much more impatient quartz. Her hair was just as long as Aventurine, but was much more wild. Her gemstone was orange with black and was placed where her right eye would be. It was shaped in a way that made it look like it was in a permanent scold. Her form also took on the similar colors of her gem; black and orange.

"What's the rush?" I asked. "It's not like we need to be anywhere. Besides," I turn in the direction of the setting sun as it made it's dip in the great ocean, "I rather enjoy just taking in the scenes like this."

"She just wants to make sure we are using are time wisely. 'If I had known she was just going to sit there, I would had been training,' she said."

I laughed, thinking of Tiger saying that exact thing. "She knows she can do what she wants until I give the word."

"I think it has more to do with her being bored. I mean, recently we haven't come across too many corrupted gems and you just let the gem experiments go. And what's so great about that little town you keep staring at?"

I smiled. "You know why." Aven was silent(sometimes I say Aven for short). My smile got bigger. "Besides, there is no point in attacking now. I'll wait just a little bit longer."

What was the hurry? I had nowhere else to be except here. If anything, this was the hill would be the perfect seat to watch as one of my greatest achievements turn this "Beach City" into a peaceful shore. Yes, that would be a beautiful thing indeed.

"Are you sure?" asked Peridot. When I got back to the barn, I told both Peridot and Lapis what I had saw.

"I'm positive." I said.

"So what?" says Lapis in a rather plain tone. "Wouldn't that be a good thing since there is some like Steven out there?"

"It's not that." I said. "I just can't believe it."

"So what now?" You Peridot asked.

"Nothing right now." Not much was said after that. It was mostly brushed aside and I tried not to think about it.

The next day, I went back down to Beach City and meet up with Abigael. Just like the day before, we just spent most of the day talking. I didn't ask her about anything gem related. Even if she was half gem there was no reason to bring it up.

"Hey Rekirts?" She asked. "You said you've been here for two years. What do you do exactly?"

"Nothing much really." I lied. "Mostly just hang around."

"Really?" she looked confused. "You look like someone who does a lot more than just hang around." I started to wonder if she actually knew more than what she was letting on.

"Yeah. I get that a lot. But what about you? Do you have any hobbies I should know about."

She shook her head. "Not much."

For a moment we just sat where we were. We ended up going to the pier and just decided to look at boats. In the silence, I noticed that Abi was quieter than she was yesterday. She seemed lost in thought. "Rekirts?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"If you had a secrete, who would you tell?"

Well, that came out of nowhere. "I guess that would depend on the secrete." Silence. "Is something wrong."

With a look of determination, she seemed to have come to a conclusion. She lifted the sleeve of her left arm to reveal….

"Rekirts. I'm not human." she said with a mix of fear and sadness as she showed me a sky blue gemstone. It was rectangular in shape with the cut of the gem also being rectangle. It took up about three fourths of her shoulder. All I could do was stare in silence as my suspicions were being realized. To be honest, I was more speechless from the fact that I only knew her for two days and she is already telling me this. "Rekirts."

I looked up from the gemstone. Abi was looking a little less confident. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stare." I said. "So you're half gem." I meant it more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah." she sighs as she puts her sleeve down. "I guess you already know what I am."

"I might have meet a guy."

"The thing is, I wasn't born like this."

You know the saying, "it hit me like a truck"? Well replace the truck with something ten times heavier moving twice as fast. Shocked couldn't even fathom the oblivion that was now my mind. My heart began to race and the best thing I could say was, "W-wh-What?"

Now Abi look sad; almost like she was about to cry. I didn't understand. I was confused and needed answers. But not now, not like this. Whatever happened, it clearly was a bad memory to her. Shaking my head to snap out of my confusion, I said, "Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Abigeal looks up at me. "But.."

"I'm in no rush for answers so you can just take your time." Actually, a butt ton of answer would be lovely, but I didn't want to force her.

All of a sudden, her expression changed from sad to disappointment. "You shouldn't lie about stuff like that." Then she got up and stormed off.

Only two days and this girl has managed to blow my mind three times already. Two of those times involved her seemingly looking at me and knowing what I was feeling. That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing my pack that I had laying beside me, I made my way to the nearest bathroom. There I got change into my creed attire: a black jacket that was infused with light armor, my hidden blade on my right arm, athletic shoes, and then strapped my pack on. I need to know who this girl was and at this point I really couldn't wait around. Keeping a good distance away, I followed Abigael in hopes that I might get something out of this. But for what came next, lets just say I'm glad I changed into uniform first.

I was bored of waiting. I was tired of doing nothing. But I didn't have to stay in one place. That's what Obsidian said. So I left; not far. Just enough to reach my target. I was told not to break her. And I won't. I'll just see how she compares to me. The one I'm not suppose to break. I want to have some fun. Or at least, have something to do. I'll wait for her. It should be worth it. Obsidian thinks so. Yes. It will be. One way or the other. I, Tiger eye, versus the mutant experiment. That should be exciting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: Getting to Know You Better**

As I followed Abigael, I began to put all my thoughts together. I had too many questions and they were clouding my thought process. First she tells me that she is half gem but wasn't born that way. While I'm not an expert on how gem human half breeds are born, I would assume that the only way to become a half gem you would have to be born that way. Then there was that ability she had. Twice she was able to know what I was feeling at the moment. That one was easy to explain. It must have been one of her powers.

Speaking of which, who was her mother. The only other gems that haven't been corrupted where the current members of the crystal gems and the gems that came here from homeworld. That means that her mother is either a crystal gem that was saved by Rose Quartz or she was a homeworld gem that came to Earth. However, if Abigael's mother was from homeworld, then why would she come to Earth of all planets? And why would she affiliate herself with humans? If she was a crystal gem that was saved from corruption, then the creed would know about her and in extension her child. Of course, that's not to say the creed knew everything. Still…

These questions bugged me. They were like wild animals moving this way and that in random orders and no direction. That's why I'm doing this. As a creed, I need to know what is what. I need to know what Abigael is, how she exists and why.

Abigael continued to walk a steady pace in the direction of what I believed to be her house. Then I noticed a change in her pace. Before that, she began to look around her as if trying to find someone. _Did she noticed me?_ I thought. _No, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel like she is being followed._ With that, I started to take a different approach: moving through allies, taking cover in flora when I could, and moving through roof tops.

Her pace continued to increased and her movements became frantic. _What's going on? I made sure to lower my aggro._ And yet she continued to move with purpose. It then came to me that it may not have been me that she was trying to get away from. I stopped where I was and activated my Eagle Vision. Since I was on a roof at the time, I had better coverage. Looking around I didn't see anyone out of the ordinary. No, wait. Standing in front of Abigael was a light in the form of a human. Which meant that was a gem. Reverting back to my normal vision, I saw that it was a gem.

It was a big gem-a quartz maybe. She looked like she was wearing an orange tank top with black pants. Her "skin"-if you could call it that-was orange with black stripes in the same pattern as a tiger. She had long and wild yellow hair that reached down to her thighs. Her gemstone was in the place of her right eye and had a narrow oval shape. Suffice to say, I was a bit surprised. It was the first time in a long time since I had seen a gem outside of the ones in Beach City that weren't corrupted. For a minute I sat there as I watched Abigael come face to face with the new player. I proceed to move closer and as I did they began to talk.

"Hey, look who I finally found." said the gem.

"So it _was_ you. How did you find me so fast?" say Abigael.

"Find you? We never lost sight of you."

Keeping myself hidden, I watched as Abigael stood in fear from what the gem said. _She was being followed by this gem. What for?_ I didn't have time to think about. The gem began to unsheathe a knife that was strapped to her side. Holding up her weapon to about chin level she continued to taunt. "I came here to see if you have gotten stronger since last I saw you. Don't disappoint me this time." Abigael tensed up, but I was already moving.

Running on the roof, took out a throwing knife out of one of my jacket's pockets. I sent it flying towards the gem, but she caught it by the blade. She looked in my direction and gave me a smug smile. She was about to say something, but as I jump off the roof, I pressed a button that was hidden under the pocket that held the knife. This activated the knife's shock trigger. Since the gem was holding the blade, she got the full force of the bolts. She let out a scream of anguish. Once I landed on the ground, I took out my knife from the other side of my jacket. It had a long blade with a smooth grip and no guard. I advanced on the now paralyzed gem and as my blade meet her….. _Clank._

My blade was sitting on the gem's form. What once resembled skin was now something like armor. I tried to put more pressure on the blade, but it wouldn't move. "Nice try human." At the sound of her voice, I leaped backwards. "But it seems your weapon isn't strong enough to pierce my armor." The gem then reverted back to her original form. _So,_ I began to think, _she was still able to do something like that even after taking a shock attack._ Gripping my knife tighter, I braced myself to continue.

All of a sudden, the wind began to pick up from behind me. It grew stronger and stronger until it got to a point where I fought I would be knocked off my feet. I turned around thinking that I would be faced with some kind of rogue storm or something. What I saw was Abigael holding up her hands as if she was holding a drawn bow. The gemstone on her arm was visibly glowing under her sleeves. She looked so focused on a target that I hoped wasn't me. The wind around us began to swirl in her hands until they made a visible bow with an arrow of wind. Once her weapon had completely materialized, she aimed the bow in my direction and released the arrow of wind. I put up my guard, but not to defend myself from her attack.

I felt as the arrow went passed me and was knocked sideways by its gust. I allowed myself to roll until I hit the nearby wall. Once I was able to get up, the first thing I saw was Abigael still standing where she was. Turning in the direction she was looking at, I saw that the gem had been pushed back some distance. She was completely armored with her arms blocking her face. In front of her were the groove that she left with her feet; no doubt a result of her getting pushed back by the attack. And yet, despite the fact that Abigael's attack had such great force behind it, the gem seemed completely unharmed.

She put down her guard and reveals a disappointed look. "Your attacks haven't changed since then. How unfortunate." She then takes her entire body and spins it so that she look like a yellow spiked ball. As she was charging her attack, Abigael took the chance to charge her own attack. Or at least, I thought it was an attack. Wind began to pick up once again, but this time it was moving fast enough to give both me and Abigael some lift. It was enough to move us out of the way of the attack, but it wasn't enough to get us out of the situation.

Soon the wind died down and Abigael dropped to her hands and knees. Whatever she was doing clearly was draining her. The gem continued her attack, mowing her way towards us again. Moving as fast as I could, I grabbed Abigael and moved her out of the way of the second attack. Turning to our attacker, I reached into my pant pocket and pulled out a mini bomb. After unclipping the safety, I through the bomb in the direction of the gem. At the same time, the gem was making her third round, but was soon meet with a great explosion.

I didn't wait. I took Abigael and ran. It didn't matter where it just had to be far. Soon the buildings were behind me and I was surrounded by trees. I was gasping for breathe and my pace was slowing down. It was far enough.

I gently placed Abigael down with her back against a tree. Once she was sitting up right, I flopped on the ground trying to catch my breath. My guard was still up, but I could tell that no one else was around. So I sat there and waited for Abigael to come to. Now that everything was a little peaceful, my thought began to trail. I thought about how quickly things went from my first day back to now. Maybe things went a bit too quickly; like events just couldn't wait to happen. _Huh, what a weird thought._

No more had 30 minutes pass had Abigael began to stir. Once she opened her eyes, she started to look around frantically. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Some woods outside the nearest town." Abigael turned to me in surprise. "It's just me I said." I said, pulling off the hood that was still on my head.

"Rekirts? Why are you here?"

"I followed you." I said bluntly. I decided that if I wanted answers to my question, I needed to be as honest to her about myself as possible.

She gave me a rather suspicious look. "Why?"

"Well you kind of just left me hanging back at the pier."

Her expression went from skepticism to embarrassment after hearing that. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"Don't worry about it. Actually, I was just thinking that we might have been moving a bit fast here. I mean, we just meet and I barely know as a person and here you are telling me that you're a half gem."

"You know what a gem is? Not the rocks you see on rings, but like the one that attack me."

"Yeah. I'm a creed after all."

She raised an eyebrow after hearing the word "creed".

"There are a lot you don't know about me." I said.

"I guess so. I just wanted to tell someone."

"But why me?"

"I guess it was because you were the first person I talked to as much as I did. That and the fact I didn't want to keep this a secret. I didn't want to live in this town having to keep something like this hidden."

"I guess that make sense." A moment of silence. "Why don't we start over." I got up and brushed the leaves and dirt off my my clothes. As I offered my hand to Abigael, I said, "My name is Rekirts, the creed."

Abigael stood and shook my hand. "Abigael Turqouise. You can call me Abi. It's nice meet you Rekirts." She began the giggle at the thought of having to reintroduce to someone she already met and I couldn't help but laugh with her. "By the way," she said when she was done laughing, "What exactly is a creed?"

Humans had gathered around the battle site that was left by Tiger Eye and her opponents. That is, if you could call that a battle. Heck, it wasn't even a real fight in the eye of Tiger. For one thing, the abomination had not gotten any stronger and then some human had the nerve to put an injector in her fun. That last attack left Tiger disoriented long enough to allow them to get away. She had to give the human credit for his speed though.

With no way of tracking them and, frankly, feeling the chase was not worth the reward, she made her way back to Obsidian. Maybe it wasn't a complete waste of time. Maybe if Tiger explained how weak the thing was, then maybe Obsidian would just give up on it. She might even decide to leave this planet for good. Of course, the key word was "maybe". They had been observing the abomination for three years now and it just seemed unlikely that Obsidian would pull out now.

But, hey, she was a free gem, and one such as her could hope.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 8

Abi and I made our way to her house. Along the way, I began to explain what a creed was. I told her the creed are just a bunch of humans that go around the world to fight gem monsters and keeps everyone safe from them.

"What else do you guys do?" she asked.

"That's about it as far as what we do."

"Oh come on, that can't be it."

"Nope."

"That seems kinda boring." she sounded a little disappointed.

"I guess it's not the same as a group of gems trying to hunt you down." It turned out that the gem that attacked Abi was not alone. As far as she knew, there were two others after her. She claimed to not know them by name, but she did know what they looked like. When I asked why they were after her, she replied by saying she didn't know exactly. She did, however, believed it had something to do with the fact that she was a half gem. Even now it still bugged me that she was a half gem but was born human. I wanted to ask how that was possible, but I chose not to.

Even though nothing had jumped at us yet, we were constantly looking over our shoulders just to make sure that gem wasn't still around. We finally got to her house, and after doing a quick sweep of the place, we proceed to the door.

"Are you sure you'll be safe here?" I asked. From what I saw, the house itself didn't look even that well protected. Even if Abi could defend herself, it would do her no good if she stayed here.

"No. We might have to move again if the others are around."

"Maybe not." I muttered under my breathe.

"Did you say something?"

"I was just thinking that maybe I can help. If these gems are the only ones that are following you, then it should be easy to deal with."

"Would you, really?"

"Well, it is my job to protect the earth and all those that live on it."

She ran over to me and gave me a hug. "Thank you." she said. After that, we said our goodbyes and I made my way back to the barn. On my way there, I began to think again. I thought about what I said to Abi: that I would help her with this problem she had. But I couldn't do that alone. That gem we fought-whatever her name was-was a bit too strong for me. If it weren't for Abi…

Not to mention there were potentially two more that were probably be just as strong if not stronger. I need help. More than that, I need more strength. But did I have the will to get it?


	5. Chapter 45: Character Bio

**Character Bio: Obsidian**

 _At this time, the story_ When the Wind Blows _is on a hiatus until further notice. So until then, I will post different bios of characters in the story. Thank you for your patients._

Obsidian: A warrior class homeworld gem. While not against her homeworld, she is often conflicted with her decision of fighting for Rose. After finding out the truth about corrupted gems, she set out to try and break away from gem culture by reinventing herself. While on earth, she found out that she has a passion for music and a curiosity about life. She has a great affinity towards corrupted gems as well. Her gemstone is located on the back of her neck while her gem weapon is a black sword.

 _Again, sorry for the wait and if you like this kind of thing, please let me know in the comment section._


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: I Have Returned**

The surrounding area was filled a pleasant sounding music that came from the flute Obsidian played. It was a simple melody and yet, after 100 years or so of playing, it had became a long, elaborate tune. Imagine my surprise when she told me she was made to be a scout type gem. I guess it made sense given on how she looked back then. Her form then was compact; significant for soldiers. Now her form was a complex. She wore earth clothing over her form: a blue and brown "hoodie", finger-less glove, and blue "pants". It was so odd to see a gem change their look in such a way, but such an act just proved her detachment to gem culture. Actually, everything she did was against what gem kind stood for. It made sense after finding out the truth behind the corruption on this planet.

All of a sudden, the music stopped. Since Obsidian's back was turned to me, I couldn't tell if she messed up or something made her stop. "Obsidian," I began to ask, "is something wrong?"

With her back still to me, she placed the flute on her lap. "I'm fine Aven. I just had a thought."

"What about?" I didn't need to ask. I could guess that she to was thinking about the revelation of corruption and the her decision that followed. Even still, she didn't say anything. Before I could press on, Tiger Eye made herself known. She looked relatively unharmed which was more disturbing than comforting. She came back a bit too quickly which made me wonder about the she was hunting.

"Tiger," I said as she got closer, "you're back sooner than I expected. What happened."

"Just another waste of my time." She said grouchily. "That thing hasn't gotten any stronger since we last saw its use her powers." She turns to Obsidian and continues her rant. "Why are we even still? It's been close to 3 years since this began and for what?!"

"What are you suggesting?" Asked Obsidian.

"Let's just leave. There's nothing here. We can take your ship and go wherever we want."

"You know I can't leave. I'm going to see this through with or without you. If you want to leave so bad then take the ship; you know where it is."

The three of us were silent. The wind blew taking everything that was light enough to be carried with it. "I can't." Tiger said. "Not without you. If I leave your side I fear that I will revert back into the thing you found me as."

There was another pause of silence. Obsidian rested her head on her hand and began to think. She was thinking about the problem at hand: the urge to stay vs the impatient quartz. Finally she came to a conclusion. "I don't want to leave this planet, but you are right about one thing. For too long, we have watched and have nothing to show for it. So," she began to smile, "let's see if we can speed things up; if only to make our stay here a bit more interesting." Rising from where she sat and storing the flute in her gem(located on the back of her neck), she began to walk in the direction from where Tiger just came from.

"What did you have in mind for your experiment?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there." She says while putting a finger to her lips and giving us a mischievous smile. "And please, if it's not too hard, call Abigael by her name."

I ran to Abigael's house as soon as I heard the news. A few hours ago, I heard that something happened in the town near Beach City where she lived, but I assumed it had something to do with the fight me and Abi had with the gem that was after her. But after further investigation, I found out it was something else: both Abigael and her father were reported missing. According to the information I had been told, a group of people broke into her house and were seen taking Abi's dad.

I could guess who was involved in this kidnapping, but why take her dad? And where was Abi? Once I got to her house, I saw that it was surrounded by police cars, police tape, and curios people. The windows on the bottom floor were all shattered and the door was broken. Investigators and police alike went in and out of the house talking amongst themselves. I wanted to get close to do some investigating myself, but not like this. I was dressed in a casual attire and only equipped with small items.

Still, I proceeded to move closer to the crowd. If I could just get close enough to listen to the inspectors, then maybe I could focus on their conversation. But before I could do anything, I felt someone's hand grab my left shoulder. By reflex, I jumped, but because there were regular people around, I held back just in case the person was just a normal cop or a civilian. Once I turned around, I found that it was neither.

"Causing trouble again, Rekirts?"

With a smile, I call the one behind me by his name "Marco! You're here." Marco NGT was 20 years old, about a foot taller than me and was always wearing his creed standard blackjack. Oh, right: he's a creed just like me only higher in rank. His skin was tan and his black hair was cut short. Some time ago, I called him hoping that he would help me and Abi.

"I thought you said the fight was outside not in a building."

"This just happened-"

"I am kidding. I remembered what you said." he said as he patted my back and walked towards the house. While I liked and respected the guy, there were equally enough things that I didn't like one of them being is sense of humor. I followed him to where he was talking to an inspector. "My name is Marco Negt. I have authority to enter the promise along with my friend here." he said to the inspector while holding an ID card. The card was made by the creed to be able to enter situations like this.

The inspector looked at the card up and down until he was satisfied and let us both in. Inside, the place was turned upside. Much of the furnisher was on the wall, broken and torn. Most of the damage could be seen in the living room. In such a mess, it was hard to tell what actually happened.

"So what can you tell me that's not obvious." says Marco to the inspector in his always offensive sounding voice.

"Nothing much." says the inspector. "Everything you see is everything I can offer."

"Great. Well, I guess I have to look around myself then."

"Good luck then. But I doubt you'll find anything that we couldn't." and with that, he left.

"Oh, but I will." Marco said to no one. In that moment, he used his Eagle Vision. His was similar to mind in abilities, but had one or more extra. In this case, Marco was able to see foot prints, fingerprints, and anything else that would stand out to be important to him. This is something I can't do yet.

"So, while I'm looking for something, could you tell me more about what's going on here. You were pretty vague over the phone." he continued his search.

"Like I said; I meet a girl that turned out to be a half gem and is being hunted by homeworld gems."

"And then I asked why, you said you didn't know, but what I don't get is why are you involved in the first place."

"She needs my help."

"Does she?" He turns to me. "Looking at this place, I can tell that it wasn't a complete one sided fight." I was silent. "I don't mind helping in this. Sooner or later, the creed would have sent some here to help you. I want to know why you're so dedicated to this."

"She's my friend."

"A friend you met recently."

Now I was getting annoyed. "Did you find something or not."

"Oh, I've been found something. I just wanted to talk." My senior ladies and gentlemen. "From what I can tell, it seems that your friend was the one who did the damage to the house. I don't when, but she left the house through the back door in a hurry. From here, we only two options: follow the girl or follow the kidnappers."

"Let's follows Abi's trail. I need make sure she's fine at least."

"Alright then, _Mr. Hero_. Let's go get your girl. But first, you should probably change for the occasion."

"My equipment is back at the barn."

"No it's not. I grabbed it before coming here and put it in that alley over there." Marco pointed in the direction where he hid my stuff. "I'll be waiting in the yard." And with that, he left out the back door.

Marco was always thinking two steps ahead of a situation. It was one of the reasons I respect him. Even though he was barely older than me, he was still considered one of the strongest creed in our house. I grabbed my things and found a place to change. Once I was done with that, I put the bag over my shoulders that my stuff came with and met up with Marco. From there, we followed our lead with him on point.

Along the way, I began to think about what Marco said when he asked about my relationship with Abi. It's only been three days since I meet her and I'm already trying to help with her problems. It wasn't that I was having second thought about helping her in fear that she might be part of a trap or something. It was the lack of understanding the situation. Who was Abigael Turqouise and why was homeworld interested in her. Should I even be think like this? I don't want to accuse her of anything, but don't assume the good.

Marco began to slow down and stopped while looking at the sky. "Her footprints stop her." he said.

"She must have flown from this point."

"She can fly?" he asked with his eyebrow raised, but all I could do was shrug my shoulders. I knew Abi could lift someone by using her air; flying was a different matter.

"Well, at least we're not completely out of options. I know which direction she went."

"That's cool. So why did we stop?"

"Well first, remind me what she can do."

"She can control the wind, but that's all I know." Right after I said that, the wind began to pick up from the direction we were facing. It was weak and nothing that should have brought up suspicion. Slowly, however, the wind began to pick up in speed. It may have been a coincidence, but evidence would tell me otherwise.

"Let's hurry." Marco said through the with his voice even and calm. He proceeded with me not far behind. I should not have been worried. After all I didn't know the full capabilities of either side of the front. And yet, my heart was beating hard and fast in chest. Air moved through me too fast for my lungs to catch. Even if Abi was stronger than what I've seen, I had doubts that she wasn't strong enough to fight three gems by herself if they were all as strong as the one I fought.

"Calm down, Rekirts!" Marco said as he ran beside me. "Trust me when I say no one will die today. We will reach her in time." After he was done, he took up point once again.

He was right. I'm no good if I panic. I managed to calm down and picked up my pace. And yet, unknowingly to me at the time, there was a fear that I had that would haunt. All my life, I've been trained to fight and have only been fighting corrupted gems. _Will I be able to stand up to something like them and win?_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Storm Before the Calm**

There was a point during our run that the wind died down. Without it blowing in our faces, moving forward had become easier. Both Marco and I keep quiet the rest of the way.

As we approached a hill, Marco began to slow down with me close beside him. We were close to something, so we kept close to the ground.

Once we were at the top of the hill, we got a good look up ahead. Immediately, I saw what appeared to be a group of people standing in front of a girl, who I believed to be Abigael. Activating my eagle vision, I was able to see that there four figures standing in front of her: three gems and a human? Marco gave me the signal to move forward. There was no point in hiding ourselves since it was mostly open fields.

One of the gems, the green one, spotted use first alerting everyone. I nearly stopped when I saw the gem that attack Abi the other day. She must have seen me hesitate because she had a cocky grin she saw me.

"That's him." She said to the black gem. "The short one. He's the one who got in my way."

The black gem seemed uninterested. If anything, she seemed upset that someone interrupted her in what she was doing. "Aventurine, can you please deal with our new gest."

The green gem that was named Aventurine summoned her weapon and made her way toward us. The weapon appeared to be a big arm guard with spikes at the end where hand was. Marco was ready to fight. I too was getting ready when Abi shouted "Wait!".

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. Looking at the black gem, she continued to speak. "I'll go with, Obsidian. But you can't hurt anyone: not my father, not them, not anyone."

Taking a closer look, it became apparent the human on the gem side was indeed her dad. They did look similar enough to be related.

"I can't let that happen." Marco said. Now all focus was on him. "I have a mission to take you back safe and sound. That includes your father."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Said the black gem named Obsidian with a distaste look.

"I am Marco. The short one is Rekirts-"

"Hey!" I retorted.

"-and we are members of the Creed, the human defenders of Earth."

Obsidian took one last look at us and then turned attention back on Abigael. "Like I was saying, Abi, come with us and your goes." It was like we were no longer there to her. I guess she didn't think much about humans. It may have been just me, but I could've sworn I heard Marco groan with frustration.

"What do you want to do with-" the one named Aventurine began, but she was interrupted by Obsidian.

"I don't care, just so long as there gone!" Obsidian was clearly was clearly aggravated by the sound of her voice.

"You said you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Abigael said.

"Don't worry Abi," Obsidian replied in what I can only describe as a "motherly tone", "Aventurine isn't to break them."

As she was saying that, Aventurine began to move toward us. The wind started to pick up again and this time it was coming from Abi. I couldn't here her, but could tell Obsidian was trying to calm Abi down. Aventurine continued to move forward without a second thought. Her eyes were focused and nothing else. I went into my pockets for my knifes, but Marco was faster.

On his side was his saber with its black scabbard. The sword was already out. In the same moment I saw the sword, Marco was gone from my sights. I heard a _clang_ soon after. Turning to the sound, I saw Marco clashing his blade with Aventurine's guard. She looked as shock as everyone else; including myself. He pulled his scabbard from under the guard, forcing it to move upward. Taking the chance, Marco made a 360 turn and slicing Aventurine belly. There was no scratch to be seen on the gem, but Marco wasn't done. He made a jump, kicking the bulking gem in the face making her take a few steps back.

The wind had stopped and there was no other sound. Aventurine had her free hand covering her face. It was hard to tell whether or not she was in pain, but it was clear that that kick was not a light tap.

The first one to move was the orange gem. She had such a big grin on her face. She was getting ready to charge at Marco, but I intercepted her. I threw two knives in front of her and one behind. The orange gem stopped just before she pasted them. By the time she realized what was happening, I pressed a button that allowed electricity to pass through each knife, shocking her. However, unlike last time, she was not stunned by the electricity. Instead, she proceeded to morph her hands into drills and then plunging them into the ground so that the knives could be disabled.

I was taken aback. I new that non-corrupted gems had the ability to change their base form, but to see it in person in the heat of a fight was almost terrifying.

The orange gem redirected her focus on me with hatred that replaced the glee. Before she could stand up, she hit by a powerful gust that nearly knock everyone off their feet. I turned to see Abi with her hands outstretched and a look of exhaustion and frustration on her face. With light reflecting off her, I could see that she was covered in sweat. Her eyes began to roll in the back of her head as she collapsed on her knees. I ran towards her instinctively about to call her name, but I didn't get to say anything before a black blur intercepted me. Time seem to stop as a great force rammed me on my right side. I could hear cracking sounds as my body flew to the left. I hit the ground once before my back and legs smashed into something(the legs of the orange gem). Flopping front side on the ground, wheezing for breath, and an entire right side in pain; I was down and for good. There was a loud ringing in my ears and-when I could open my eyes-my vision was blurred and filled with black spots. I could hear what could only be voices, but they were dulled out by the ringing.

What couldn't have been more than a minute, there was a loud cry. The moment after, I felt something scoop me up, but the pressure on my side was enough to make me pass out.

*******8*************7********6******%****************************3*****2*********!

Running was the only thing he could have done. His comrade had been knocked down, and the only other capable fighter had just wore herself to exhaustion. He was left outnumbered and way to overpowered. He had to use the flash grenade, but such a tool only gave him so much time. On top of that, he could only carry a maximum of two people which meant he had to leave the hostage behind. He did what he could, he made the right call, but that didn't stop Marco from feeling any less guilty. The guilt, however, didn't come from the fact that he left someone with hostile enemies. It was because he made the call to come alone. He thought at time that two _well trained_ members of the Creed _and_ a gem-human half breed would be enough to fight three non-corrupted gems. Not only that, but he had received a great power that was enough to take down a corrupted gem by himself without a scratch on him.

And why wouldn't he have thought that. After the first good hits on the green gem known as Aventurine, it was clear to Marco that he was a match. But then the orange gem used her hands-turned-to-drills to break the ground around her while disabling the "electric fence". Then the black gem-Obsidian-moved so fast. He saw her move and he could follow her movements, but there was no denying that she was faster than his top speed. Even if he did try to stop the black blur, he wouldn't be in time to stop her coming attack.

Just the thought of that made Marco turn around to see that no one was following him. Still, he made an effort to pick up his pace.

After a relatively long time of peace, Marco felt safe enough to begin thinking to himself. He was think about Obsidian and how she acted when Rekirts approached the girl. Obsidian was so quick to get in the way of anyone who would come close to the girl. She willing to leave the hostage unguarded just keep someone away from the girl. Obsidian was a lot nicer towards her than anyone else. It seemed odd, but he needed to know more to the story before he could say anything.

Marco turned around one last to check if anyone was following. There was no one. They weren't following as far as his Eagle Vision could see.

 _Figures_ , he thought to himself. Good thing too, because carrying two people was tiring.

As soon as my vision had returned, the humans that called them "the creed" had left. Abi was gone as well. The only human that was still around was Abi's father. I might have laughed at the fact that their whole reason for coming here was to save him. However, the reason why I went through the trouble of kidnapping the man has disappeared from my sights. I didn't know how to feel. Frustrated? Enraged? Intrigued? Confused.

Behind me, Tiger Eye screamed with rage while slamming her fist into the ground; shaking the area around her.

"They ran away. And it was just getting interesting." she said through her teeth.

"I think it was a smart move on there part." says Avent. "At least you can look forward to fighting them again. Mabey even stronger than today."

"But I have done nothing but wait for a good fight. I will not let them evade me a second time." Tiger made her way in the direction "the creed" humans came from. However, she intercepted by my hand.

"Avent is right. Let them get stronger for now." I said, but my focus was downward and I was deep in thought.

"Why should we?"

Looking to Tiger, I responded, "You saw as that one human fight Avent. He was able to stagger her with little efforts. Don't you think that's odd?" Tiger didn't appear to understand. Avent looked ashamed. "Humans-now matter how strong they become-could never stand up to a trained quarts soldier. Which means that there is something special about him."

"Are you trying to say that he like that abomination?"

"I told you to stop calling her that! And to answer your question, I don't know. There is no proof to confirm anything at this point. But if my suspicions are correct, I may know who to blame for all this."

It could be her, but I can't say now. I have to know what makes this human so powerful. Only then can I say it was her. Only then can I say "This was the work of Tourmaline".


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: What More Can I Possibly Do?

It was one thing to be a prisoner; captured against your will and not considered a threat to where you weren't even restrained. But then, someone had to come rescue you in exchanged for themselves. Once again, Tom felt like a failure of a father. He was suppose to protect Abigael from these gems. That's why he left the Great North and continued to move to as many place as he could. He should have known better. He should have known they would catch up to Abigael sooner or later.

He looked up at the moon lit sky. It was a full moon accompanied by smaller stars around it. It reminded him of the days when he and Abi would sit out at night to look at the black sky above. Whenever she was sad or if either one of them was having a bad day, they would go onto of a roof or lie in the grass just to see what was there.

To think that somewhere among those stars there is another world of intelligent life that Turquoise came from. Turquoise. Just the thought of Tom's second love's name brought a great pang of sadness to him, and it was made worse when he thought that his only daughter could be next. He fixed his sights to ground. The weight of loss laid so heavy on his chest that tears began to roll out his eyes.

Tom began to think back on how he meet Turquoise. He had recently got off of work and was on his way home. Because he stayed longer than scheduled, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. He made an effort to move as quickly as he could to get to his house but was not in any hurry. Abigael was in good hands of one of the neighbors and was a good friend of Tom's. It wasn't until he was more than halfway to his house that a woman sitting on the ground caught his eye. She was still as a statue as she stared at the setting sun. She looked like she wearing some kind of long sleeved kurtis and skinny pants with light brown lines following were the seams would be and giving the outline for the design of the would be dress. Her "skin" was a lighter blue compared to her attire with her long hair having an opposite color palette oppes to her dress: brown with blue highlights. Curious to why anyone would be sitting out-alone no less-at this time of hour, he approached the strange woman and a wind began to pick up blowing her hair in its direction.

Just then, a shadow cloaked the man in darkness which interrupted his flashback. Annoyed, realizing who could have made the shadow, Tom whipped his face clean of any sign of sadness. He didn't want anyone to see him like that.

"Still awake, I see." It was Obsidian's voice. It was friendly and gentle, but Tom knew better to think it was anything but. "Well, since you are awake, you won't mind eating this with me."

Tom turned around to see Obsidian holding two bags of what could only be food. It was fresh and warm indicated by the smell of cooked meat. It wasn't from anywhere in Beach City based on the logo, but with her speed, it wasn't hard to believe Obsidian got it from any of the nearby towns.

Begrudgingly, he turned his body to face her and took a bag she gave him. She sat down in front of him and then took out a box from her bag. He did the same with his own and open his box to find a sandwich with sesame seeds on the bun. Lifting the top bun, he found that the sandwich consisted of well cooked meat, lettuce, tomato, pickles, three different sauces, but no onions. It was exactly how he liked it. With a scowl, Tom closed the box and put it back into the bag. He would eat it later.

Obsidian had already taken a bit of the sandwich and looked like she was enjoying it.

"Why are you doing this?" Tom said in a gruff voice. Obsidian stopped "eating" and looked at him, confused. "You don't need to eat. In fact, I don't think gem's can taste anything. So what do you have to gain from doing all of this."

Obsidian swallowed what she had in her mouth and smiled. "Oh Tom, does this infuriates you that much?" she said, lifting the sandwich when she said "this".

"There are a lot of things you have done to me and my family that is unforgivable. I want to know why you've gone this far. You took away the only mother Abigael has ever known, you turned her into-what ever she is now-, waited a few years just to kidnap me so you could get to her, and now this. Why!? Why can't you just leave her alone?"

Years of running, years of fearing what would happen if Abigael was taken, had boiled into rage as with each word that was being said. So many unanswered questions, some of his greatest heartaches and it was caused by her. But what could he do about it other than scream?

Obsidian's smile had faded as she listened to the man's rant. "To answer your first question: I thought that if I ate with you, we would be able to talk as equals. It's true, I get no benefits or disadvantages when I eat, but it makes me feel human. As for little Abi: I didn't "take" Turqouise by force as you would like to believe. I gave her a choice."

"But did you tell her what she was giving up!? Did you even know that if she went through with it, she would never see her daughter again? Be able to talk to her or hold her even!" It sounded selfish, but Tom didn't care. He was angry, and rightfully so. After losing his first wife to childbirth and another to Obsidian, he had all reason to be hateful towards the black gem.

Obsidian was quiet and calm giving Tom nothing more that a blank stare. The sandwich she had in her hand was placed in the box and was now getting cold. She look at the half eaten material and said, "You were right when you said that gems can't taste. We, as gems, could never comprehend the need to consume anything in order to produce energy. To create multiples of different products with different properties and quality of 'taste'. I could never understand that."

For a moment, she seemed sadden by her own statement. However, she changed her tone as she resumed. "But just as a gem can't understand taste, humans can never understand corruption." Tom was taken aback as she said the word "corruption". Obsidian continued. "Don't preach to me about being a human when you yourself have no idea what it's like to be a gem. Everything I did then was based on the will of Turquoise. Everything I'm doing now is for Abi. I took you, because I know she won't come with me willingly. The reason I let her go is because now she has a reason to get stronger; to train her powers. Unfortunately, she is training with humans. When she come back, I will show her how far just being a human will take her, and she will have no choice but to come with me. I made a promise, Tom, I plan to keep it."

In the background, behind Obsidian, there came sounds of agony that were slowly turning into grunts and growls. Obsidian turned around and sighed. "Excuse me." she said sounding polite and sarcastic. She got up and walked towards the sound as she took out her black flute from her gem. She began to play a soothing melody and as she did, the sounds became calm and quiet. The song continued to play, leaving Tom bye himself; speechless. Once again, he had failed to even stand up against this gem. What more can he possibly do?


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Day Dream**

It was another bright and cold day in the North. The snow was thinner than it was the days before, so there wasn't going to be any snow men getting made today. It was still a beautiful day regardless, so I asked my dad if we could go out. He said yes, of course, and after we got dress, we made our way to the local park.

Once we were there, dad let me run around and do whatever I wanted. There was the frozen pond in the middle of the park where anyone could ice ski on. A good many number of people were there on the ice sliding back and forth with ease. Well, mostly with ease. Kids and grown-ups alike would occasionally fall on there butts.

For a time I just watched in smugness every so often making a motion with my hands pretending that I was the one making them fall over. I was looking to see who I should knock down next when a gust of wind blew snow in my face. The wind wasn't too strong, but the shock of having snow in my face suddenly made me fall on my back. After wiping my face of debris, I was faced with familiar face.

"That is how you knock someone down from a distance." said Turqouise.

"Turquoise!" I said with a high pitched glee. Getting back on my feet, I immediately gave her a vice grip of a hug. She gently hugged me in return. It wasn't a 'warm', but it was comforting.

"Hello Abi. How are you today?"

"I'm good. Where have you been?" Turquoise would often disappear without either me or my dad knowing. We mostly assume it's something gem related and leave it at that. However, every time one of us would ask where she went, she wouldn't say.

"I keep telling you guys, it's a secret." she said, giggling at my disappointed look. "But I did bring someone with me this time."

My face immediately light up. "Are they like me?"

"If you mean 'are they gems like me', then yes."

I began to look around the area for anyone that looked like they were covered in paint. "Where are they?"

"She's not here yet. Typical. As fast as she is, you would think that she would be the first one here."

"Ahh. I don't like waiting."

"I know Abi. Come on. I want to say hi to your dad." When my dad saw Turquoise, it was like the colors of the world had just came back. We decided that we would all catch up back at the house, so we ended up leaving the park sooner. I didn't mind.

Once we got to the house, we noticed that some was already there at the door. Their back was turned to us so all you could see was their short black hair, black hoodie, and black pants. From where I was, it looked like their close were melded to their skin, which meant that whoever this was was a gem.

"Obsidian!" Turquoise yelled, getting the attention of the black gem.

As soon as saw her face, I wanted to tackle her in anger and poof her so that she wouldn't escape. I wanted to say "Run! She's evil!" and get both Turquoise and my dad away from that gem as possible.

But I didn't. Instead, I smiled in excitement; I felt excited. At the same time I was horrified. For the first time that day, I couldn't control my actions. The closer we got to Obsidian, the more I panicked.

 _NO!_ I thought. _Don't go! Don't let her take everything away again! Someone Stop Her, PLEASE!_

Then there was a bump.

It wasn't until things stopped moving that I opened my eyes. Looking around, I realized I was in the back of a car behind the driver seat. My seat belt was already buckled. There was no one in the driver seat. Looking to my right, I saw Rekirts still unconscious and in a lot of pain.

I remembered seeing him get kicked in the side by Obsidian. I might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard his bones cracking. The mere thought of it made me cringe.

I was tired, but I need to know where we were. Before I was able to unbuckle myself, the door on my side opened, and I'll admit I did jump a little. It was the guy that was with Rekirts when they found me. He looked angry or upset; either way I could tell I wasn't going to like this guy.

"Good. You're awake." He said, not changing his expression. He looks towards Rekirts. "Has he woken up yet?"

"No." I replied.

"Then help me get him out." He left the door open and went to the other side. I didn't want to comply, but if he was trying to help Rekirts why would I decline.

My body didn't want to move, but I forced myself to get out of the car and made my way towards the unknown stranger.

He was already trying to get Rekirts out of the car. The guy told me to grab unconscious Rekirts by his legs and carry him to the mat. Once we set him down, he jerked in pain. The guy lifted Rekirts's head and grabbed a container that was beside a pad.

He allowed Rekirts to drink the content of the container which made Rekirts's face twist in discuss. I wanted to ask what the other Creed was doing, but then he lifted Rekirts's shirt and put the pad onto the place where he was kick by Obsidian. At the same, I started to hear popping sounds and once again Rekirts was screaming in pain.

By reflex, I put my hand over my mouth; shock and a little horrified by the sudden change in reaction. Looking at the other Creed for assurances that this was supposed to be happening, he looked completely unfazed. Surely he has done this before, but how could he look so calm as his college was screaming 'bloody murder".

Eventually the screaming stopped and Rekirts breathing became normal. "He'll be fine." Says the Creed.

Rekirts looked fine, but one question loop through my mind. "What did you do?" I asked

"You don't need to know that." He then gets up and goes to unlock the trunk of the car.

I grunted. He didn't have to be so rude. "Ok, where are we?"

He looked up from the trunk scanning either side of him. . "You tell me. All that matters is that those gems aren't following us." He turns towards me. "Why haven't they? With the speed of that black gem it shouldn't be a problem."

"Obsidian likes to procrastinate when she can." He seem to take that into consideration and began to think. However, I didn't have time for that. "What's the plan for saving my father? You must have something by now."

"I'm not here to save your father." He said bluntly.

"What?" Really starting to not like this guy How does Rekirts deal with him?

"I was told that a gem-possibly from Homeworld-was causing trouble. I need to figure out what is going."

"You glottal be kidding me!"

"If you want to go, then go. The only reason I'd stop you is because you seem to be a part of her plan. Before you leave, though, let me ask you: are you really strong enough to get your father back. From what I've seen the answer is 'no'."

"I'm plenty strong. I have more abilities and powers I could have used to fight them."

"And yet you wasted all your energy on a single blast that didn't even knock them off their feet."

"So? I was tired. Besides, that wasn't even my strongest attack."

"Then show me what you can do." After he closed the trunk, he pointed at a vacant spot away from where we were. "I want you to try and knock me on the ground." That did sound like fun. At least it would give me a chance to show him that I'm not one to be pushed around. "If you fail, you _will_ stay put. Otherwise, you can go and never see us again. Do you agree to this?"

He stretched out his hand and we shook. The deal was made. All I had to do was knock him on the ground and that would be it. He was still fast, though, and strong enough to stand against Tiger. Luckily, I had a plan and one that would work without fail.

Once we were a comfortable distance away from Rekirts and the car, we stood ten passes(I assume) from each other. The Creed's back was facing a tree. "Today would be nice, thanks." he taunted. Yeah, I was going to enjoy knocking that blank look on his face.

Back when my mother-Turquoise-was still around, she showed me a trick where she would create a wind tunnel so that her opponent couldn't move turning them into stationary targets. But to do this and still have enough strength to knock him down, I need more energy. I thought back and imagined my father in the custody of Obsidian and her friends. For whatever reason, my powers seem to get stronger the angrier and upset I get. Soon the wind picked up and I willed it to make the tunnel around the Creed just as Turquoise would have done.

Before he knew what was happening, the Creed was surrounded by fast moving wind and he seemed unable to move. Step one was complete. It was time to truly show him the extent of my power. My gem began to glow and from it clouds snaked down my arm and into my hand. The clouds soon formed into a bow with water as the string. The bow was about half my height, but was unsurprisingly light. I put my focus in the middle of his chest and-gripping the bow tightly-aimed at that spot. With my free hand, I pulled on the cold string. As I did, an arrow of visible wind formed on the string.

Everything was ready; everything was perfect. Taking a deep breath, I was ready to fire, but then everything flickered. I blinked, but everything was still the same. I looked up so I could see the Creed's face; it was different. His eyes were a lot more focus and intense and his head was tilted down slightly.

Maybe I was getting tired; a side effect. Without wasting any more time, I took the shot. It zipped with the currents and all I had to do was wait for that satisfying….

 _Crack!_

 _Crack?_ That didn't seem right. Looking a little closer, I saw that the arrow hit the tree knocking off a chunk of bark from it. Meanwhile, the Creed seem to be getting closer and my wind was dying down. I couldn't fail, so pulled on the string again. This time three arrows on the string, but they were smaller than the first one. Just like last time before I was able to fire, everything flickered and each one of my shots missed.

What was going on?! Before I knew it, the Creed was right in front of me as he stared me down. There was no time draw my, so I swung my bow as fast as I could. With his sword still sheathed, he blocked my attack and just as quickly counter by slamming his fist into my stomach.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Happy Hunting**

I felt so heavy. No, I felt sore. _Ah_. It hurts to breathe, but not by much. It was so…..quiet? No, there was a sound; voices to be exact. I wanted to know who the voices belonged to, so I began to open my heavy eyes. Slowly I realized I was inside of a car, but whose car? I still couldn't move yet. Thinking back, I began to remember that Abi, Marco, and I were fighting Obsidian and her crew. What happened after I was knocked out? Looking around some more, I realized that the car was Marco's. Where were we?Suddenly, the door next to my head opened up. "He's awake!" Cried Marco to someone outside. He looked back down at me and asked, "Can you move?"

"No." I said as my sore muscles agreed to do no such thing.

"To bad. I need you out of the car." Marco helped me out of the car while I did my best to move lest my head hit the ground. I was finally out of the car, but it wasn't long before Marco propped me up against the back of the car.

"Shouldn't you be more careful with him. He's still injured." Looking up, Abi stood over me. She looked like she was just in a fight. She didn't seem badly hurt, but I wondered what happened while I was out.

"Not after this last dose. Drink this."

Marco gave me a bottle of the healing liquid the Creed used this to heal the severely wounded. I was always hesitant to take any because of how bad it tasted, but I knew I had to.

"What do you remember?" Marco asked without missing a beat as usual.

"Too much of everything." I replied as I did my best to drink the entire elixir in one go. It was still disgusting.

"Right. Well, after your glorious defeat, I dragged to two here and as far as I know they aren't making an attempt to chase us."

"Why?" I asked with an aftertaste in my mouth.

"You can ask her later, but there are worse problems we need to think about. Those gems are far stronger than either of you and I can't fight them all by myself."

"You need us to get stronger."

"'You' need to get stronger. 'She' needs to get smarter."

"I'm not stupid." Abi retorted followed by a small gust of wind. What made her so mad?

"I didn't say that." Said Marco a bit agitated. "The point is neither of you are ready to handle this kind of threat as you are."

"So what's your plan? We don't have time to spare here."

"I doubt they will do anything to harm him so we don't have to rush. I need to make a phone call and then we'll go from there." Marco pulled out a phone and began to make distance so that his conversation could be private.

"Are you calling for backup?" I asked.

"You'll see."

After he was out of earshot, Abi and sat in silence for awhile. Every so often she would look in my direction and then look away as if there was something on her tongue that she couldn't get off. So I took it upon myself to start the conversation. "What happened while I was out? I mean, between you and Marco."

Reluctantly she replied, "He and I thought so that I could show him how strong I was….and I lost." She was visibly upset by the sheer memory of what happened. I wanted to know more, but I figured it was too soon to press the details. Or maybe it wasn't as she continued, "I think he cheated at some point by drugging me or something."

"Drugged? What makes you say that?"

"Because at different points in the fight it seemed like the world was off balanced and I missed my shots." She looked over at me and probably saw how confused I looked. "Do you not have anything like that?"

"Not for humans, and I doubt there's anything for gems that does the same. Are you sure you weren't just tired?"

"Positive." We both remained where we were lost in our own thoughts. All that time and I couldn't think of anything that made sense. I was told, through Creed training, that humans could unlock certain abilities like Eagle vision. I came up with different theories, but nothing made sense to me. As soon as Marco came back, I had already given up and I waited for the chance to ask him myself.

He told us to help pack everything in the car and said we were going to town to get stocked up on a few things. When we asked him what the plan was, he replied, "We're going to find a place to lay low and I want to see if I can strengthen you both up before reinforcements get here."

"How many are coming?" I asked.

"Only two. As serious as this may be, there was still a lot I don't know about the situation. Best not to go overboard when we don't have to."

"Didn't think you would call for help." said Abi.

Marco ignored her while I continued the conversation. "You think we'll be ready when they get here?"

"No, but we aren't doing anything else with are time. Now stop wasting and lets go."

By the time we got into town, my pain had subsided. However, I couldn't stop thinking about back with our fight with Obsidian(if you could call it that). It seemed weird that she was in charge of two gems that were bigger than her. She might be stronger too, but there was no way to really know. I wondered how I would stand against her if we meet again. What if I had to fight any of them? I could probably fight the orange one since I did it before and I knew most of the things she could do. Though, I couldn't rely on that. I had to get stronger, or just better at fighting non-corrupted gems.

I was leaning on the car waiting for Marco to pay for everything when Abi joined me. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Defeating Obsidian." I said, not directly looking at her.

"You think you can?"

"Can you?" I looked her in the eyes and I watched them flicker.

"Of course. It's just….not easy. I trusted her once and it ended with my mother disappearing. You still didn't answer my question."

"Let's just say I'm less confident than you are."

When Marco came back, we were on the road again. He said we were going to find a secluded training spot where no 'normal' person would interrupt us, but the reinforcements would know where we were. At some point, I began to wonder about his phone call-out of boredom mostly. I wondered who would come to are aid and if they would be enough. There were records that suggested the Creed had encountered and/or fought non-corrupted gems after the war, but each account was spread thin throughout thousand years of history. In other words, the Creed was not accustomed to these kind of enemies, so it was hard to tell how things would fair for them. I wondered if they could do what Marco could.

Eventually, we came to a stop just as the sun was almost hidden behind the horizon. We were barked not too far from the road. Marco said that we were almost to are destination, but figured that we should get some sleep before then. Abi was the first to fall asleep, which left me and Marco on watch duty.

For a while, we just sat there sitting around a little heater Marco had in silence. "What's wrong with you?" He asked me.

"What?"

"Well, either something's wrong or you have a lot on your mind. And we can skip the 'there's nothing wrong' part."

"...Abi said that you messed with her during a fight you two had, but I couldn't figure out what you could have done. What did you do?" He only kept eye contact with. This was unlike him. "Marco?"

"I won't say."

"But you have always told me things even when they were considered 'classified'. What's different about this?"

"The difference is I only understand the surface level and nothing more." before I could get the next word in, he continued. "I know you. You like to ask questions and what I can tell-at least the parts I understand-will not satisfy you. *sigh* Sooner or later I'll tell you just not today."

I rubbed my hands together and held them to the heater. He would not say anything more about the subject so there was no point in pushing him. Once my hands had warmed up enough, I asked him about the reinforcements-how many were coming; how much did they know about the situation; did they have the same powers as he did? He took a moment to consider the last question before he answered. "Their powers aren't like mines, but it's the same idea. That's all I'm going to say."

No more did a minute pass that I decided to call it a night. I too was going to be a part of the oncoming training laid out by Marco, so sleep was needed. I couldn't sleep, however-at least, not right away. What could've been hours spent in a dark void was replaced with a moment of wide eyed restlessness and the clutching of newly mended bones. It made that Obsidian was fast, but strong enough to break bones. Could the other gems hit harder than that? I clutched my side even tighter. The orange seemed to be resistant to electric shocks, though it seemed to very. Which means, the next time we confront each other, I'm going to need more powerful and concentrated bolts. I still need to watch out for her armor. Speaking of, I didn't know what the Aventurine could do. At some point, I did manage to doze off, but it was less than a peaceful sleep.

Early the next morning, Marco woke Abi and me and said that I could drive the rest of the way. He pulled out his phone, punched in corndites, and we were on our way. Marco slept the entire way. I At some point, Abi asked if I had talk to Marco about anything. I told her that there was nothing new between the three of us and that we were still in the dark.

"He could at least explain how he's going to train us." My eyes were on the road, so I could only assume by the sound of her voice that she was pouting.

"I'm not worried about that. It's easier to explain these kind of thing when you are actually at the training site." _I'm just worried that it might be a waste of time given that reinforcements are coming._

When we reach the destination, I woke up Marco and he told me to get my extra weapons and tools from the trunk. He later did the same. He had me and Abi stand in front of the car as he explained the next step. "When I made the call yesterday, I asked if there was any corrupted gems nearby. And thanks to a certain fusion, we found one somewhere in this area. According to the info I got, this gem should pose as a reasonable challenge for the both of you. You two are going to hunt it down and, with Abigael's powers, seal it in a bubble." He looked towards Abi. "You do know how to bubble, right?"

"I've done it once or twice."

"Good enough. Once you do that, bring it back here as proof. Now, as you're fighting keep these things in mind. Abi, figure out how to preserve energy when attacking. Rekirts, dodge more. Know if there are no questions-" Abi raised her hand. "What?"

"Is this really how you plan on training us?"

"Think of it as step one. Happy hunting."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Whirlwind, Kicking Up Memories**

Marco watched as the young creed and little half gem go into the forest to look for whatever caught their attention. It wouldn't take all day, he figured, but he knew he was going to be waiting for a while. He may not have to wait alone, for as soon as Rekitrs and company were gone from normal eye site, two presences appeared behind Marco. The fact he knew they were there had nothing to do with his training as a creed. It was one of the new abilities he gained that seemed to make him more aware of certain things. The ability wasn't strong enough to be useful and Marco didn't feel comfortable having it in the first place. He turned to face the creed reinforcements and took the time to analyze them. On his left stood Michael who was bigger than Marco-in terms of muscle size-and wore a black version of the creed hoodie with his war hammer on his back. Alan was the other creed. He was taller than either of them and carried a switch dual sword on his side while wearing a costume made blue and green creed hoodie. There was a reason for this and Marco had seen first hand how practical it could be given the right settings, though, it still upset him that anyone would allow something like that.

"Why did they send you?" Marco asked the two creeds.

"It's nice to see you too, Marco." said Alan. He looks around and, seemingly not finding what he was looking for, asked, "Where are the rest of the group?"

"Elsewhere. You didn't answer question."

Alan wanted to retort, but Michael stepped forward and gave Marco an answer. "It seemed like a great opportunity to test the extent of what we can do. Is that a problem?"

"No." Marco took a moment to think before he answered again. "Change of plan. We three will leave immediately."

"Are we not waiting for the others?" Michael asked.

"Rekirts doesn't know about anything regarding are new powers. Doing this will keep me from having to explain any of this. Besides, we should have no problem dispatching these gems."

"It doesn't seem right to just leave them without telling them."

"Rekirts knows how to track me down and he can drive my car." both Michael and Alan were still unsure about Marco's quick change of direction. "It will be fine. Besides, this will save time. Now, I assume you came here by car?"

The forest was loose with flora with the trees being the main places to hide. The ground was blanked with dead leave and branches. I searched the ground for any abnormal tracks and the tree trunks for marks. I jumped when Abi started talking.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" she asked soon after.

I felt my face burn up, so I didn't turn around when I answered. "No. I mean, sort of. When hunting, everyone on the hunt is quiet, so you could say I wasn't prepared." As cool as I tried to act, I knew Abi could-at the very least- sense that I was embarrassed. Thankfully, she didn't mention it.

"I guess I should shut up then." she said.

"You can talk. Just don't be too loud. We aren't near anything dangerous yet, but just in case."

"Right. So…"

"'So' what?"

"Didn't you hear my question?"

"I guess not." I kept moving forward while looking for anything unusual.

Abigael sighed. "I wanted to know why you joined the creed."

"I like helping people and fighting corrupted gem is a neat bonus."

"Is that it?"

"Should there be more?"

"I'm saying that you can do those things without joining the creed. So what brought you to them?"

"Well, you could say they found me. Marco recruited me and was one of my field mentors."

"And?" I didn't say anything. At some point, my pace was slowing down and I was less aware of any oddities. "I know there is more to it."

"There isn't."

"Rekirts-"

"Abi! Leave it alone!" I was face to face with her and she looked hurt. The air around her was stirring. I took a deep breath and calmed down followed by the wind dying down. I leaned on a tree. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I just wanted to know more about you."

I laughed. "I didn't start wanting to help people. But one day I thought if someone with this kind of power was willing to save me, why shouldn't I?" Abigael only listened. "I have long since buried my past and I don't want to look back on it. Maybe I'll tell you one day, but not today." Abigael nodded her head and told me she was sorry that she pushed me. I left it alone and we continued our search.

Eventually, me and Abi found something. On one of the lower hanging branches of a tree, we found a blue feather that was about the size of my hand. Ahead of us, I noticed that the ground was sporting large tracks. If the two thing were related, that meant we were behind a corrupted gem with shedable body parts. The feather implied that it had wings along with the tracks appearing to start from nowhere.

"It seems we are dealing with a flying gem. It might have a projectile attack, so be careful of that. No doubt it's a big one, too." I said to Abi, but I was more so talking out loud to no one.

"You got all of that from a feather?"

"Well, not just a feather." I took a closer look at the tracks. They were new, which meant the gem was close. We follow them quietly until we found it. Lying in front of us with its back turned was the corrupted gem which looked like a giant rabbit with feathery wings. In the place of a cotton ball tail was a long one that ended with a thick stuff of fur. It was mostly blue with the tip of its feathers being white and black.

"What do we do now?" asked Abi in a hushed tone.

"Get ready to fight it." I replied. "Have you fought anything like this before?" Abi shook her head. "Just fight normally. And don't use too much power at once." Just as she was about to confirm that she understood what to do, her gaze drifted pasted me and her eyes widened. I turned in the direction she was facing and saw that the corrupted gem was up and in a defensive stance.

Now that it was facing us, I was able to see that its gemstone was on its head in the shape of a four pointed star. It didn't have any eyes or teeth, but it snarled at us all the same. Its feet were clawed and they dug at the dirt.

Suddenly, it charged for us and, within a single leap, was a meter or more in front of us. Once it landed, it turned a quick 180 degrees swinging its tail in our previous position. I was already gone, dodging to the left, but I still felt the wind from the attack and heard the trees crash to the ground or onto other trees. I shield my eyes from the oncoming dirt and splinters until everything was settled. The blue gem was in front of me, snarling. I pulled out one of my electric charged blades and screamed Abi's name.

As if to answer, a compressed gust of wind impacted against the back of the gems head. Abi was okay. The gem turned around and made its way in the new direction. I went after it. Abi made a run for it deeper into the forest. It followed by jumping in zig zags from one tree to another; tilting some while breaking others.

Once close enough, the gem leaped high, spun forward, and slammed its tail on the ground. It missed Abi, but it still knocked her down. The gem fell on its back which gave me a chance to strike. I slashed at its belly and it screeched in pain. I kept going until I was beside Abi and, by that time, was already up and ready for another attack. I was behind her when she released another arrow of wind. It hit.

"Why don't you through one your shock blades, or whatever you call them." asked Abi.

"I only have a limited number of them on me." I said, firmly gripping said blade.

As we talked, the gem got back up and started jumping on trees again. Like the first time, some trees fell, but it didn't slow down. It circled around us giving, not giving us the chance to run away. Abi tried to shoot it down, but was missing every shot. This aggravated her and as I was about to correct her way of aiming when, suddenly, the wind around her grew more intense. She let her arrow go, but this time the shot seemed to have hit multiple times; some of which hit the gems back leg. It fell to the ground kicking up dirt and leaves around it. I went to strike it, but this time I jumped on it and stabbed it. I jumped off it and pressed a button which released the electricity stored in the blade. It was a lot of damage, but experience taught me one blade was never enough. The gem shook its head and roared in defiance. We were getting close to defeating.

The gem spread its wings at long last and leaped into the air. Since the trees around us had fallen, there was nothing keeping it from going as high as it wanted. At first, I thought it was going to run, but once it had us in its sights, it flapped its wings strongly in my direction. By instinct, jumped out of the way. In my place was a mess of flaming feathers that were sticking out of the ground. I didn't have time to think as another volley came at me.

"Abi!" I yelled, hoping she could hear me. "Knock it to the ground!"

She must have heard me, because soon after, the gem was getting hit by her arrows. This gave me the chance to set up a trap for when it came down. I pulled out four blades and got to work.

The gem kept dodging each of her attacks. She was trying to replicate the barrage of arrows like what happened before. The gem sent its volley of feathers at her just as she launched another arrow. The attacks canceled each other out sending the feathers in different directions. With the flow of arrows momentarily halted, the gem took its chance to charge at Abi and slam its tail at her. She was able to avoid the tail, but she was still knocked to the ground. The gem took to the air again with its wings blowing dust in every direction. The debris didn't reach Abi since the wind she was producing shielded her.

It was then she figured it out. She thought back to when she first shot multiple arrows. The annoyance of missing every shot now fueled her powers further. She took aim at the gem, but the sun was in her eyes. It didn't matter since one of her shots would hit the target. She just had to get a good angle…. Something was wrong. Her arm began to throb and everything around her seemed to slow down. The bow in her hand was gone and she felt like she was strapped to a table. She remembered this feeling and she knew where she was. The wind around her got stronger but nothing seem to move. A shadow moved in from the right shielding part of the light from Abi's eyes. She heard a voice come from the shadow, but nothing made sense to her. Abi knew who it was which only made her more fearful.

From where I was, I had just finished setting my trap when the wind began to pick up once again. It grew more intense with each second until I was forced to look up from my work. The gem struggled to stay airborne in the face of the sudden torrent. It was hard to tell what was happening to Abi, but the arrow she had pulled back in her bow was huge. When she released it, I was blown back a bit and the gem landed across from me with a loud thud. There was one last high pitched squeal from the gem and then it poofed into a white cloud leaving only the gemstone that was on its head. Snapping out of my daze, I rushed to the stone and pulled out one of my capsules. The capsule was round and metallic. It was made so that the gems wouldn't reform once inside.

Once the capsule clicked shut, I looked back at my electric trap. I was disappointed since I had such a great idea on how I would finish the fight. On the other hand, it was a real testament of Abi's powers and how strong they could get. Speaking of which, I was about to congratulate her on taking the gem down when I noticed she was lying on the ground. I ran straight towards her; I would disarm the trap latter.

On closer inspection, she seemed to be unconscious. Did she use too much power on that last attack? Why would she go that far?

 _Objective 1: Capture Unknown Corrupted Gem_

 _Complete._


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: How Far I'll Go For Someone Else**

"Marco!" There was no response. "Marco! Did he really leave us?" Abi was in Marco's car, resting. In his car was a note and the keys. The reinforcements had came and they left as soon as they did. At least I could track them down, but should I go after them? I was still as weak as before and Abi was no better. I made sure everything was packed, Abi was safely seated, and made my way to Abi's house.

The trees were so close to the road. Some of the green limbs brushed against the car as we passed. It was calming.

The plan was to go as far back as possible to where I last saw Abigael's father and start tracking the gems from there.

"And then what do we do?" Asked Alan. He was sitting in the back while Michael drove. I looked back at Alan as if he just asked a question he was just told the answer. He elaborates. "Every gem we have captured is stored away and not really thought about. What about these guys? And what if they have connections to homeworld? Their absence would draw attention."

I respond. "I don't think that will be a problem. What would homeworld want with a gem-human hybrid?" There was no answer.

Michael was the one who spoke up. "Even if these gems aren't with homeworld, why do they care? Rekirts got hurt because of this. To what extent are these guys willing to go?"

"I don't know." I said irritated. "We will get answers, but only when we catch them." I look back out the window.

Something seemed off. I couldn't see anything odd; it was a feeling. Neither Michael nor Alan seemed bothered in the slightest. When they noticed I was tense, they too became alert. Something was close.

From the woods, trees feel at an alarming rate, and then the car was rammed by a orange figure. The car was lifted and thrown into the air towards an open field. Everyone grabbed something and, once the car was low enough to the ground, leaped out as the car crashed leaving skid marks.

Everyone was fine; except Michael's car. "Oh come on!" He yelled. The car was upside down with the wheels spinning off axis. It was covered in dirt and scratches with the windows shattered. However, that was the least of our problems. In front of us stood the orange gem that was with Obsidian, but she looked different. She was hunched over as more of her hair covered her left eye. Black and orange scale-like patterns began to crawl over her arms, back, and face. She was gripping her head with clawed hands.

From a distance, a soothing melody played and the corrupted form of the orange gem was reverted back to it original state. She stopped holding her head and her covered less of her face. Both Michael and Alan look in amazement as this was something that none of us had seen.

"Tiger!" Yelled an angry Obsidian followed by another gem holding Abi's father. "I told you to calm down. You knew this would happen if you didn't and yet you continued to have a fit."

"I'm sorry. But it's still frustrating that—"

"I know why you're upset. But because of your outburst, we have to clean up—" Obsidian look in our direction and realizes that we seemed to be unharmed. "Wait…. you were one of those hooded humans that came for Abi." She looks towards the car with horror. "Was—was she with you in the car?"

"That doesn't matter. You'll be taken either way." I replied.

Obsidian's fear turned to calculated rage. "Even if you won't tell me, I will find her in the end. You're just one more annoyance that stands in my way. Aventurine!" The gem named Aventurine looked towards Obsidian. "Watch him. Me and Tiger will take care of this."

Two black swords appeared in her hands while the one named Tiger charged at us. We all pulled out our weapons and Michael went to intercept. He relied his hammer back and swung it to meet the orange gem's fist. The clash raised a dust cloud around. A hole formed in the dust as Obsidian raced past the two bruisers to get to me and Alan.

Alan held both of his swords together as he waited to strike, but as soon as she was close enough, she stabs one of her sword into the ground and bolts right. The action hardly costed her any speed. Using the same technique, she pasted behind us only to come back towards me. She was too quick for me to follow, so I closed my eyes and keep track of her presence. As she got closer towards me, I snapped my eyes open and raised my sword which connected with hers. The momentum of her charge pushed me back, but she was stopped.

Alan took the chance to redeem himself. He positioned himself right beside me as he swung one of his swords at Obsidian. Because Alan's initial attack was so far away, she didn't even flinch. All of a sudden, she is knocked to the ground by a gust of wind. She wasted no time getting back up and was able to move out of the way of Alan's next attack.

"This is for my car!" Screamed Michael, as he slammed his hammer into Tiger as she was practically thrown into the air. As heavy as the hammer was, Michael was agile and patient with the thing. He was much more durable than anyone I knew, so he could afford to take a hit or to before dealing a knockout blow. Tiger got up in frustration, turning her hands into drills.

As fast as Obsidian was, she was unable to get close enough to either me or Alan to make any contact. If was too far, Alan would launch wind blades to trip her up. When she got too close, I would be ready to block her and stop her movement. Even then, she was still too fast for us to do any real damage. Without concentration, Alan's wind blades wouldn't do any kind of damage and even these weak variants couldn't hit the speedster. She was crafty too. At some point, she started to slide towards us which made it harder for me to block her. She would jump over our heads, charge at us blades first, and throwing dust at us using her speed.

I could sense it all. I could feel where she was going to be giving me time to react accordingly.

She stopped running around us and made it to Tigers side. She slashed at Michael's arms as she passed him causing him to bleed lightly. He came to me and Alan as he looked for something in his bag to stop the bleeding. Both me and Alan were looking at his arm; but not at the blood. Something had been revealed that should have remained hidden.

Abi woke up halfway to her house. I told her what I knew happened and then…. "We have to go find them. You said knew where Marco went?"

"If he needed help, he would have waited for us. Besides, Obsidian is after you and—"

"I don't care. We have to go."

"Even if we go, we aren't strong enough to help."

"This isn't just about fighting Obsidian or getting my father back. If Marco and who ever else is with him are as strong as I think they should be, then Obsidian won't hold back."

"Wait, are you saying there is something else she can do?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yes. Marco may be strong, but he won't be prepared for what will come."

It all made sense now. Obsidian was looking at the armband that now could be seen through the ripped cloth on the human she cut. In the center was a yellow gem shard.

In all fairness, it could have been fake or a non-sentient gem that one could find on earth. But the strength of these humans could only be explained if those gems were sentient.

"Aventurine! Tiger!" Obsidian's eyes didn't leave the gem shard as she pulled a crystal looking flute from her gemstone. "These aren't normal enemies. We need to take care of them as soon as possible if we are to move forward." She move towards Abi's father as Aventurine went to stand next to Tiger.

Tiger's eye widen and a grin grew on her. The three creeds look up at the gems and readied themselves. "It's been too long since we did that." Said a gleeful Tiger. "I can't even remember the last time we had to do it."

"Don't get too excited." Aventurine said with caution. "It could turn on us if we are not careful."

"What? Do you not trust Obsidian?" Aventurine didn't respond to Tiger. "Hey, at least it doesn't hurt."

Obsidian was standing over Tom when she began to play her flute. It was an ominous sound, but slowly build the adrenaline as it got faster and louder. When the song was building, the two gems changed.

Tiger grew slightly in muscle mass and her hair grew slightly, however, not as long as before when she lost control. Once again, her body was being covered by black and orange scale-like patterns while still having her stripes. Her hand and feet became clawed, but the claws looked like drills. Her extended a bit and formed teeth. Her body hunched and a tail formed growing to equal length of her body.

Aventurine did something similar, but she didn't gain scales or a tail. Her arms formed in front of her in such a way that one would think she was holding pillars. The arm guards that were her summon weapons appeared on both arms.

To the creeds, the gems looked like were creatures from myth. Then, a spike in the song came out of nowhere which acted as the go ahead to attack. Tiger jumped in the air and began to dig a pond landing and Aventurine curled up into a ball and rolled towards the creeds. It was at that point they new the real fight had begun.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: I'm Not Done Yet!**

"So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. You're saying there's a song that can turn a gem into a half corrupted form of themselves? Isn't that a bit redundant since gem can already shape shift?" I was driving as fast as I could looking for Marco. Unfortunately, it was hard to focus after the disturbing revelation.

"Not if there already corrupted. Even then, a gem can't replicate the effects of corruption simply by changing their forms."

"So then Aventurian and Tiger Eye, as you call them, were already corrupted."

"Yes."

In the distance, we were able to see dust clouds shooting upwards. However, once we arrived on site, it was hard to see clearly through the cloud of dust. Putting the car into park, I got out and used my senses to better get a grasp of what was happening.

First, I hear an eerie song that seemed to be coming from the shape of Obsidian. Behind her was Abi's father and in front was Aventurian, but she looked different. Her arms were holding up these slabs with pointed sides and she had a tail with spins coming down her back. Tiger was scaly and her hair was longer. In front of her were three creed members. One of them was facing of against Tiger—though he looked winded—and the other was holding Marco as he was kneeling on the ground. He was holding his arm rather tightly, but as the dust settled, I realized that he wasn't holding much of anything.

Soon, everyone noticed Abi and I had arrived on the scene, but only Aventurian made a move. She positioned herself to face us and putting herself between us and Obsidian.

"You came. At least now we can stop chasing you." She was speaking only towards Abi.

Thinking she was distracted, I took a chance to flank her to the left. However, she used her shields to project herself in my direction. I dodged backwards just in time, but I still felt the wind as it caught up to her. With Obsidian exposed, Abi move closer for a clear shot with her bow ready with an air arrow. Seeing that, Aventurian used one of her shields to scoop up a chunk of earth and hurtled it at Abi. Abi reacted by shifting her aim and shot at the flying mound turning it mostly to dust. Aventurian swung her raised shield where I was, but I was already moving back towards the car.

Looking over towards Marco's group, they weren't doing any better. The one still standing against Tiger Eye—Michael—stood his ground and was barely keeping the onslaught at bay. Tiger was moving to fast too for him to land a hit on her, and even then his hammer didn't seem to phase the bowling ball of doom.

Aventurian moved back in between us and Obsidian. She wasn't trying to attack us, but her eye where fixed on us. Obsidian was the king piece on the enemies side. Tiger was the spear and Aventurian was the shield, but if the king piece fell, the battle would be won.

Not taking my eyes of the defender, I asked, "Abi, you trust me right?"

She turned to me with a look of confusion. Most likely, she was wondering where the question came from, but she answers regardless. "Yes, more than most. Why?"

"I need you to start hitting Aventurian as much as possible."

There was a pause from her. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes."

Having no further questions, she began to unleash a torrent of wind arrows. One shot broke into ten shots all hitting various spots on the tank. Aventurian tried to block all of them, but soon learned that none of them were trying to get to Obsidian. I started throwing my knives at her as well. Only three of them hit her.

Nothing seem to affect her. "If this is the best you can do, then you should give. Even if you could beat me, Tiger would make quick work of all of you."

The music around us was louder than the clanks of the blades that hit Aventurian. She was more focused on us than whatever was happening behind her. As for Obsidian, she had her eyes closed and was dancing to her own melody as if nothing could hurt her. Abi's father keep his head down as to not get hit by any debris or projectile that came his way. Abi herself looked towards me wondering when or if the plan was going as I had planned it. Honestly, I was just glad I didn't miss too badly.

"Now the real fun starts." I said to Abi. Inside my coat, I pressed a button that allowed me to activate the shock trigger on multiple knives. The music stopped and was replaced by a scream of pain. Aventurian jumped in such a way that she was now facing Obsidian while also giving us enough room to see the black gem. Obsidian was glitching violently within a shock trap created by the three knives that surrounded her. It didn't take long for her form to give out leaving only her clothing and the flute she was playing on. Her gemstone rested neatly on the nest of her shirt and blue jeans.

For the first time since I've seen her, Aventurian had a look on her face that was nether boredom or disgust. She was mortified at the sight as if I shattered Obsidian.

"What did you—AAAASSSHHHHHH!" Her scream was joined by Tiger with the same frequency that reverberated through my body. "NONONONONO! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!"

At the same time, Tiger screamed, "SHE'S INNOCENT! DON'T TAKE HER!"

Over and over again, they screamed their respected phrases like a broken record. It scared me. It haunted me. Even with my hands over my ears, the sound still found a way to worm into my skull. The shields Aventurian had disappeared as her body shifted into her beast form. Her face was now like a giant and sharp shield and her eyes were nearly invisible. Her hands and feet extended into claws. Tiger was hunched over and she was covered in black and orange scales. Unlike Aventurian, she still had some hair on her head that covered her eyes.

I turned to Abi, but she was on her knees and clutching her head. I couldn't help her then because the corrupted Aventurian turned her attention towards us once again. I needed to get back in focus.

Through the haze of the pain, Marco watched as the orange gem that was once steamrolling over everyone seem to lose control of herself and became fully corrupted. She thrashed about as if she was trying to hold on to her sanity, but it was also fighting against her. Michael was on his knees and was using his hammer as support.

"Alan," Marco said breathlessly, "you're going the have to finish that thing off."

"How?"

"I'll distract it."

"You're insane. You've lost too much—"

"Start charging your attack." Marco left no room for debate. As he began to get up, black dots swarmed his vision. He felt a hand on his back as gravity pulled him backwards.

"Marco!" Alan tried to sit Marco back down, but nothing seemed to stop him.

The orange gem was scratching the ground with its focus on the three creed once again. It curled up into a ball and grinded the ground before it allowed itself to move. Marco didn't wait. He focused on where his powers came from and set them loose to run rampant.

As if the orange gem ran into a solid wall, she uncurled her body almost unintentionally. She bounced and clawed at the ground only stopping inches away from Marco. This human made her feel uneasy. Actually, uneasy didn't even begin to cover the near paralyzing weight locking her in place. It wasn't fear, but a non-existing casing of stone crawling over her.

A numbness began to creep over Marco that started in his belly, then his left arm, and finally it threaten to cover his head. His body was giving out and his focus was fading, but he held fast. From the blur of his vision, he saw the shape of the gem arch downward with Alan on top of it. However, that was the last thing he saw before everything turned white.

The hardest part about fighting Aventurian in this form was the same problem as before. I found(or at least assumed) that her weak spot was behind her shield like head, but she was moving so fast that it would be a pain just to get on her back. There were three knives that still had charge in them scattered on the ground, so my goal was to collect at least one of them so could have a shot.

I went for the closest one to me, but Aventurian was right behind me. I scooped up the knife and dodged left. Like a train, she zoomed passed me and I threw the knife at her. There was clank sound and Aventurian was making her way back to the target she missed. With no time to hate myself for missing a shot, I moved out of the way to get another knife.

With a new knife in hand, I decided to stand my ground. Aventurian didn't stop and I didn't move. It wasn't until she was 5 feet from me that I turned on my heels, feeling the sharp sides of her head on my arm, and then throwing the knife at the back of her neck once had a clear shot. Once again, Aventurian turned but didn't get far as electricity coursed through her and her form poofed into a cloud.

I let myself drop to the ground and began to feel a sharp pain in my right arm. It was bleeding. I looked around, and I noticed that Tiger Eye was nowhere to be seen and Marco was on the ground and unconscious. I got back up to check on my mentor.

I opened my mouth to scream his name, but a light from behind stopped my moment.

 _No. You can't be serious,_ I thought to myself as I watched in pain—physically and emotionally—as Obsidian's gemstone recreated her physical form. She was scratching at the ground and, as she got up, she materialized two swords in her hands. The form that she took looked like she was wearing a sports bra and long black pants.

Obsidian looked around the battlefield with glazed eyes. Seeing that Abi was fine seem to calm her, but if her face was any indication, she was far from calm.

She looked towards me; her eyes seemed like an endless pit. "I'll give it to you. Not many could get passed Aventurian's defenses and, while I wasn't around to see it, you or your friends found a way to over power Tiger. I'm…..I'm so disappointed that I can't make you suffer for this." She raised her swords and all I could do was close my eyes. Even if I had all the tools I could carry and I had all my energy back, I wouldn't be fast enough to avoid her.

 _Maybe if I had the powers of a gem, or maybe if I was stronger, could I have beat her back then? I don't want this to the end, but I guess this is what I signed up for. I'm sorry Abi, but I have to give this one to—_

"Obsidian!"

My eyes snapped open to find one of Obsidian's blades lightly touching my neck while the other was deep in the ground. Obsidian's eyes seem to have life in them once again, but now they were wide with fear. She turned to look at the sky and I followed her gaze to find a watermelon pink and green gem floating on a honeycomb patterned platform.

This new gem had long, straight hair that going down the length of her back. Her form made her look like a scientist with a green lab coat instead of a white one.

With a look of dissatisfaction, she continued to talk towards Obsidian. "There is no need for that. Grab the Tiger Eye and Aventurian. I'll get Abigeal." She descended while Obsidian did as instructed.

Abi's father did best to get up, screaming "Stay away from my daughter!" I started to run towards her and Abi—who just recently gained her composure back—readied her bow. The new gem smiled almost genuinely. From her gemstone—located below her left eye—she produced an orb. I didn't get a good look at it before my vision turned white.

 _Objective 2: Rescue civilian_

 _Complete._

 _End Result: Heavy Loses_


End file.
